Mammoth Tornado Appears to Spare Small Kansas Town of Chapman

Multiple homes were damaged and railroad tracks were destroyed Wednesday night when a large tornado swept across central Kansas, authorities said, but no injuries were immediately reported.

The tornado, described as a half-mile-wide wedge, struck several farmhouses in Dickinson County and just barely skirted south of Chapman, a town of about 1,400, the State Patrol said Wednesday night.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency alert — a rare advisory even more serious than a tornado warning — as the storm headed for Chapman earlier in the evening. The NWS warned residents that their lives were in immediate danger.

"Those things are incredibly violent," said Ari Sarsalari, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. Fortunately, the tornado skewed off in an unexpected direction and passed just a few thousand yards south of the town.

We just got word that the tornado missed Chapman to the south. Thank goodness!